An Alabama state House member has been removed as a Captain with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department due to his political views.

State Rep. Shane Stringer, R-Citronelle, is “no longer a Captain with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office,” a spokeswoman for Sheriff Sam Cochran, a Republican, announced in an email to the media on Friday.

“Sheriff Sam Cochran made the decisions Wednesday, May 12, because of different political views held by his administration,” spokeswoman Lori Myles said.

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Stringer joined the Cochran’s staff in 2018, the same year he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives.

Myles later told AL.com that Stringer’s sponsorship of legislation supportive of constitutional carry ran afoul of the Sheriff’s views on the issue. Stringer has also backed legislation forbidding state and local law enforcement agencies from enforcing new federal gun laws or executive orders, which has been a concern among law enforcement personnel as well.

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The legislation has long been opposed by law enforcement, including the state’s sheriffs, who argue that permits are a safety tool for them whenever they are making traffic stops, serving a warrant or conducting an arrest.

Stringer, in a news release, said he is “proud to stand in defense of the Second Amendment gun rights of Alabamians despite being fired by Mobile Sheriff Sam Cochran for his position on the issue.”

“The Second Amendment gun rights of Alabamians are under attack from a liberal federal government that is out of control and even from some factions right here at home,” Stringer said. “After dedicating my life and career to law enforcement, losing a job because I stand in support of Alabama gun owners is certainly surprising, but nothing will discourage me from defending the constitutional guarantees promised to all of us as American citizens.”

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He said he felt that local sheriffs are opposing constitutional carry legislation because they depend upon the fees the gun permitting process generates for their offices.

“The U.S. Constitution does not say you have a right to keep and bear arms as long as you pay what amounts to a gun tax in the form of permit fees,” Stringer said. “It says you have the right to keep and carry firearms ... period.”

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Stringer is a former Satsuma police chief.

Myles added, “He would be a great hire for someone. He’s been in law enforcement. But at the end of this month, he will end his career being on staff with us.”

https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/mobile-sheriff-state-lawmaker-not-longer-captain-due-to-differing-political-views.html

Typical.



I too hope he can accomplish change.

Maybe next year.

The AL Sheriffs Assoc has them believing that if we get CC, then the permit money will just go away.

I was at a meeting a few years back where the NRA presented the Chairman and Co-chair of the house public safety committee with a study that showed permit sales stayed the same and in some cases increased after CC is made into law.

Now we know Treadway was in the pocket of the Bham police chief in not passing it. Bottom line is the sheriffs love the money with no strings and the big city police chiefs like the ability to arrest bangers for carrying without a permit.

I suspect most people would continue purchasing permits for the interstate reciprocity.
Of course they might lose certain local money from folks who never travel.
This is just sad.

I believe most people who buy a permit want it so they are not just legal in AL but in our border states.

Last week, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran removed State Rep. Shane Stringer (R-Citronelle) from the position of captain, reportedly for taking a pro-constitutional carry stance that contradicted the stated position on the issue of Cochran and other law enforcement throughout the state.

Cochran has faced somewhat of a backlash for his decision. However, he maintains he was justified in doing so.

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But, I guess, quite frankly, what kicked it off was he came home and at Fowl River, was at a political event, and was talking about how he tried to get constitutional carry passed and didn’t get it this year. Will hopefully get it next year, and sayings it’s not a constitutional right to have to pay a fee, or something, for a gun.”

“Well, this philosophy that he had just didn’t comport with mine or my staff members, and we’re a team,” he added. “Now, if he were still a sergeant, rank-and-file, or not a political appointee, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it. That’s his right. But if he’s going to be part of my team, working for and going against our position and the sheriffs association position. The sheriffs association has a lobbyist arguing against a bill up there, and Shane is in that committee and votes against us. And again, I get it from law enforcement and police chiefs — what is Shane doing. He’s changed.”

Cochran said the conflict in opinions on the constitutional carry issue meant a team member was working against him and his staff.

“[W]e have our political differences,” he said. “I feel very strongly about it, and I think he feels very strongly in the opposite direction. I don’t think it is right to have a team member going against the role of the administration.”

https://yellowhammernews.com/mobile-co-sheriff-cochran-defends-rep-stringer-dismissal-over-constitutional-carry-philosophy-that-he-had-just-didnt-comport-with-mine-or-my-staff-members/